Attention all creative thinkers!

[Kraezymann]

I need your help! I thought posting this in the art board would stir up some dormant talent that I know must lay in some of you.

What I need from you is the following:

A way to produce steam or fog in the same amount of space as a backpack.

To put it in some context, for Hallowe'en I'm going steampunk - and I want to actually be able to produce steam. I need a way to produce it that is cheap, and can fit in a backpack, which I shall cleverly disguise as part of my costume. I also want to be able to produce it at anytime or constantly (as long as its not overpowering), so perhaps something battery powered would be best. The steam does not need to rise or anything, as long as it just appears.

Any and all ideas are welcome, and I will list them in this post so we can keep track of who said what. I will also be posting pictures of the project over time, not just of the backpack, but of the costume overall.

For really good ideas I think I will distribute credits - I have just over 75K and I rarely play the game, so I think I will use them up this way instead by giving out 1000 credits for each really good and creative idea that I see - up to 5K per person... I don't want to give them all away before other people have a chance! I know its not much, but its really all I have to give, and my graphic skills are... well... mediocre at best.

Thank you for your time and effort, and I really think I will see some clever ideas!

IMPORTANT! This is NOT a thread for making hazardous materials or explosives of ANY type. If I see people in here asking about making anything of the sort or providing instructions - dry ice bombs or pressurized gas or anything that would be considred dangerous - I will report you. It IS against FFR Rules to provide such information.

Go watch Mythbusters instead.

EDIT #1: Thank you dag12
EDIT #2: Thanks dayum/Reincarnate
EDIT #3: Precautionary addition to post
EDIT #4: Thanks ES

List of ideas so far

- dry ice in backpack - maybe a bit of a safety issue, unless we find a foolproof way to do something with it. EnigmaticSingularity has a pump/fan idea. Possibly without the fan?

[dag12]

Well, are you looking to be able to produce fog at any time?
If you're just looking for constant fog, dry ice would probably be the best way...

[Kraezymann]

At any time would be best probably, yes. Thank you, I shall update the post.

Concerning dry ice, I'm not actually sure how I would use it. It steams up once its in warm air, right? Or does water help? And if so, having to put the ice in the water every time I wanted steam would be time consuming, so that might be out of the question. I should look into this.

[Artic_counter]

You could construct a small device which opens valves when you active let's say a switch or a lever. That way, you could actually control when you want the fog from the dry ice and in how many quantity.

That might be interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RauW4spyoNo

You might want to check whether it's safe in the quantities you want to have.

[dayum]

containing dry ice in a place that has no ventelation will make the container explode(see dry ice bomb) but yeah that's probably your best bet

[LongGone]

Last time I threw a handful of dry ice in a 1.5litre soda bottle with some water. Closed the cap till the pressure built up; when I unscrewed the cap slowly it flew and made a small dent in the fridge lol

[Reincarnate]

I'd go with dry ice, but be really careful with it and read up on the safety precautions. As long as you store the ice in something well-insulated and ventilated, you won't have much risk of it blowing up.

[Kraezymann]

Originally Posted by Reincarnate

I'd go with dry ice, but be really careful with it and read up on the safety precautions. As long as you store the ice in something well-insulated and ventilated, you won't have much risk of it blowing up.

There is a place in town that sells it for retail, but its meant for plumbers and air containers and such. I'm not sure what the smallest amount I can get would be OR how exactly to modify my backpack in a way to keep it from killing me haha

Originally Posted by dayum

containing dry ice in a place that has no ventelation will make the container explode(see dry ice bomb) but yeah that's probably your best bet

From what I have seen, most bombs require room temperature water for the sublimation. As long as there is a hole or two, maybe I can just have the piece of dry ice sit in the backpack and steam just from the air alone?

[midnghtraver]

Someones probably suggested this. I didn't read much. Dry ice is great if you don't wanna put anything else in the backpack. Just every now and then pour some water there.

[dayum]

An insulated lunch bag would probably be a great way to hold the dry ice in your backpack

[Spenner]

A hookah.

Nah, dry ice for your budget. A battery powered fog machine would be a little pricey. Most other smoke devices require heat, so I think it's your best bet.

[midnghtraver]

Originally Posted by Spenner

A hookah.

Lol vacuum hookah.

[EnigmaticSingularity]

hmm, have a lunch bag in the backpack with a battery powered fan rigged to the top of the lunch bag and have two or 3 water bottles resting outside of the lunch bag with plastic hoses coming out of them and then use something similar to whats used in a spray bottle to spray water at the dry ice whenever you need smoke. instead of a trigger to make the water spray you should be able to rig up an air pump to compress the spring to spray water. I apologize if i don't make sense i can't really put into words what i'm picturing in my head.

[Kraezymann]

Originally Posted by EnigmaticSingularity

hmm, have a lunch bag in the backpack with a battery powered fan rigged to the top of the lunch bag and have two or 3 water bottles resting outside of the lunch bag with plastic hoses coming out of them and then use something similar to whats used in a spray bottle to spray water at the dry ice whenever you need smoke. instead of a trigger to make the water spray you should be able to rig up an air pump to compress the spring to spray water. I apologize if i don't make sense i can't really put into words what i'm picturing in my head.

Dude, I totally get it. Maybe if its ventilated well enough I could just use one of those turkey baster style pumps or a hand pump to put a few drops of water on at a time. Cool idea!

[Cold Kitten]

What you might be able to do for the dry ice is put it in some sort of plastic container. Now, I know that might not be too safe. You could poke small holes in the top of the container. Just keep some water with you to pour on it anytime it's needed. It shouldn't be too terribly hard, or time consuming. At least, not the way I'm invisioning it. Good luck though. This sounds like an awesome idea.

[Mythix]

Eat the dry ice and impress everyone with your fog breathing talent
















(don't do that you can die)

[dayum]

The fan is kind of necessary also es's idea is nice but it should be the other way around. There should be water in the lunch bag and have dry icedropped into the water. If you don't want steam just turn off the fan and when you do want steam turn the fan on.